We were all a little nervous when we heard that Daniel Radcliffe would be donning his best South African accent in the apartheid-era thriller Escape From Pretoria. 

The film documents the real-life jailbreak of political prisoners Tim Jenkin (Daniel Radcliffe) and Stephen Lee (Daniel Webber) who were incarcerated for distributing ANC material via leaflet bombs.

Despite the less-than-ideal accents, the film has been critically acclaimed, with The Guardian describing it as an “ingenious thriller”.

An overwrought, chest-thumping score is surplus to requirements in a film that already feels as though everything, from the characters to the walls of the cells, is sodden with panic sweats. A pacy screenplay, co-written by director Francis Annan and adapted from a book by Jenkin, rarely flags, but it’s the nervy camera, hugging the characters at hip height, the better to scrutinise each locked barrier to freedom, that most successfully builds the tension.

Here’s the latest trailer if you need a refresher:

Those accents, though…

It’s still not as bad as Blood Diamond. That performance landed Leonardo DiCaprio a spot on our ‘top five worst movie accents ever’ list.

I’m sure he’s thrilled.

[source:guardian]